Page 84 of King of Greed

“I can’t eat. I have to answer a thousand emails, I haven’t picked out a dress for the party yet, and I— ”

“Ále.” We stopped by the door. “Breathe. It’ll all get done. Tracy is arriving tomorrow, right?”

Tracy was one of her virtual assistants. She was flying in to help with prep and attend the opening. Alessandra’s other assistant just gave birth, so she couldn’t make it.

“Yes, but— ”

“It’ll all get done,” I repeated. “When did you last eat? If it was before noon, dinner is nonnegotiable.”

“Fine,” she relented. A cab whooshed by when we stepped outside, blanketing us with car fumes as it nearly ran over a bike messenger. The bike messenger screamed something obscene; the cab driver rolled down his window and flipped him off. “It’s ironic you’re telling me to eat when you’re the one who always skips lunch.”

“Not always.” I kept my hand on her lower back and gently moved her so I walked on the outside of the sidewalk. “I had a black coffee and half a sandwich today.” A grin flashed at her half- amused, half-exasperated stare.

She still had work to do after dinner, so I took her to the gourmet burger shop down the street from Floria Designs. We’d just placed our orders when my phone lit up with a new message.

“Is that your brother?” Alessandra accurately read the pinch in my brow. There was only one person in the world who drew that kind of reaction from me.

“Yes. He wants to meet for drinks.” I didn’t want to blow him off after his first normal outreach (breaking and entering my apartment didn’t count), but I sure as hell wasn’t leaving Alessandra either.

“Tell him to meet us here. I’m serious,” she said when I slid her a look laced with disbelief. “You talk about him so much, and we have to meet eventually.”

“I’m not sure he’s a burger-and-fries type of guy.”

“Ask anyway.” Alessandra reached for her soda. “It can’t hurt.”

Alessandra

I regretted asking Dominic to invite his brother the minute he showed up.

Roman was both as handsome and unsettling as I remembered. He greeted me with a cool smile and was polite enough, but there was something about him that set off level-five alarms. Maybe it was the way he moved like a predator stalking the night, or maybe it was the ice anchoring that cold, green gaze. Dominic was ruthless but very much human; there was no humanity behind his brother’s eyes.

“Dom says you’re in town for work.” I attempted to make conversation after our previous discussion about the latest Nate Reynolds film petered out. “What do you do?”

He cut his burger with surgical precision. “I’m in resolutions.”

“What does that mean?”

“I fix problems other people can’t solve.” Roman offered nothing else.

I glanced at Dominic, who met my eyes with a small shake of his head. He was used to his brother’s reticence, but part of the reason I’d asked him to invite Roman was so we could get to know each other better.

“I see.” I filled the ensuing silence with another stab at drawing Roman out of his shell. There had to besometopic he could expand on. “I guess you travel a lot then. Where were you before you came to New York?”

“Here and there.” Another clean slice of meat and bread. “I can’t talk much about work. It’s confidential. You understand.”

“Let me guess. If you told me, you’d have to kill me?” I joked.

Roman’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Something like that.”

A chill drew goose bumps out of hiding. Quiet mushroomed again, interrupted by the occasional clink of silverware and chatter from nearby tables.

“You’ve been watching too many action movies, Rome,” Dominic said just as the silence was getting unbearable. “Come up with something more original next time.”

Roman let out a small laugh. The tension dissipated, replaced by a debate over whether Keanu Reeves’ John Wick or Nate Reynolds’ Jason Rath was the better character.

I guess Roman didn’t mind talking about movies if his brother was the one who brought it up.

Dominic’s hand found mine under the table and squeezed. I squeezed back even as unease leaked into my blood. I loved that he was reconnecting with his brother, but I worried that his lingering guilt over what happened in Ohio was clouding his judgment.

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